A 22-year-old pregnant housewife, identified as Sifatun Nur, has died nine days after she was allegedly beaten during a dispute at her in-laws’ home in Patiya, Chattogram, over the amount of homemade snacks brought by her mother.

She died at around 1:30 pm on Friday (October 23) while undergoing treatment in the intensive care unit (ICU) of Chattogram Medical College Hospital (CMCH).

Sifatun was three months pregnant at the time of her death. Her father, Md Nur, confirmed her death.

Three women from her husband’s family, including her mother-in-law, have been accused of assaulting her.

According to family sources, Sifatun was the youngest of three children of Md Nur, a resident of Chandanaish Municipality. About five months ago, she was married, through a family-arranged marriage, to Md Tarek, 26, the Dubai-based expatriate son of the late Abdul Sabur of Ilyas Khan Bari in East Kusumpura village under Kusumpura Union of Patiya.

As her husband was living abroad after their marriage, Sifatun had been staying at her in-laws’ home.

Her family alleged that she had been subjected to physical and mental abuse by members of her husband’s family since the marriage.

On October 14, at around 7:30 pm, her mother, Juhinur Akter, 55, visited her daughter’s in-laws’ home with homemade snacks she had prepared herself. A dispute reportedly broke out between her and members of the in-laws’ family over the quantity of snacks brought.

According to the allegations, Sifatun’s mother-in-law, Rizia Begum, 60, assaulted Juhinur Akter, who was her co-in-law. At the same time, two other family members, Rasheda Begum, 55, and Sumi Akter, 52, allegedly grabbed Sifatun by the hair, threw her to the ground and beat her.

Hearing their screams, neighbours rushed to the scene and rescued the mother and daughter.

According to the victim’s family, Sifatun’s physical condition deteriorated severely later that night following the incident. She was admitted to Chattogram Medical College Hospital in an unconscious state. As her condition was critical, she was transferred to the ICU, where she remained under treatment for nine consecutive days before dying on Friday afternoon.

Earlier, on October 14, shortly after the alleged assault, Juhinur Akter filed a written complaint with Patiya Police Station, accusing her daughter’s mother-in-law and two other women of the assault.

Sifatun’s father, Md Nur, alleged that his daughter’s in-laws had attempted to conceal the incident and divert the investigation by fabricating a story that she had tried to commit suicide.

He called for an impartial investigation and exemplary punishment for those responsible.

Patiya Police Station Officer-in-Charge (OC) Md Ziaul Haque said a written complaint regarding the alleged assault on the housewife had been filed earlier. He confirmed that the police had subsequently received news of her death while she was undergoing treatment at the hospital.

He said the matter was being investigated with the utmost seriousness and that strict legal action would be taken against those responsible based on the post-mortem examination and the findings of the investigation.